Last-minute adjustments made in preparation for home opener

Above, Jaime Quijas fixed a handrail near box seats where a ball broke glass. Officials said the preseason games allowed them to fine-tune the new ballpark for the official home opener.

They're putting up the big electronic board that will flash K's when a Padres pitcher strikes out an opposing batter. They're trimming the infield grass to the perfect height of seven-eighths of an inch. They're bringing in the booze.

Petco Park hosts its first regular-season game tonight, with Barry Bonds and the San Francisco Giants in town. Everyone was scrambling yesterday, from Padres vice presidents to the people who sweep the walkways, to make sure the $474 million downtown ballpark is ready for its official debut.

Matt Balough, a member of the grounds crew, spent much of yesterday morning painting a special logo behind home plate for the home opener.

"We'll also be doing some edging today and tomorrow and painting the rest of the logos," Balough said.

Richard Andersen, the Padres' executive vice president and managing director of Petco Park, joked that they were preparing for the largest opening night crowd in Petco Park's history.

The ballparkhas 42,445 fixed seats, tickets to all of which have been sold. The club also sold 1,000 Park at the Park passes, which will allow access to the grassy park just beyond the outfield and to standing-room areas inside the seating bowl.

Home opener

Gates open at 4 p.m. Pregame festivities start about 6:15 p.m. Ceremonial first pitches will be thrown out by former President Jimmy Carter; baseball Commissioner Bud Selig; and San Diego Mayor Dick Murphy. The game, which is sold out, starts at 7:05 p.m.

The club will sell 1,000 Park at the Park passes for each of the next several games and watch how the crowd flows. If all goes smoothly, additional passes will be made available for future games.

Andersen is also working with police, transit and parking officials to make sure fans have no trouble getting to and from the park. Other than some crowded trolley cars for a San Diego State University baseball tournament in March and the Padres/Mariners exhibition series last weekend, transportation has been a "nonstory" so far, Andersen said.

"We want to be careful and not get complacent," he said.

The preseason events helped point out the last-minute adjustments needed to make the ballpark perfect, said Kacie Arkebauer, the ballpark's construction manager.

First on the list was to increase the height of the wall along the first-base line, which was so low two players actually flipped over it and into the seats chasing foul balls.

They've also added handrails, television monitors and signage since the weekend, among hundreds of other items.

"We're fine-tuning and making little tweaks," Arkebauer said. "We received a lot of feedback during the SDSU and Seattle series."

The Padres Hall of Fame Bar and Grill in the historic Western Metal Supply Co. building will open for the first time today, and workers were racing to get the bar stocked, light fixtures installed and trim painted.

Brenda Sanchez spritzed and wiped field-level seats behind first base while she talked with a reporter.

"Today, I'm cleaning the seats," Sanchez said. "Yesterday, I cleaned the suites. Tomorrow, I do the bathrooms."

Eduardo Filho estimated he's painted the edges of 4,000 steps throughout the seating bowl in the last month. He was hurrying through Section 113 on the field level yesterday to meet his deadline.